Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory. A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints.
For the past few weeks, we have been highlighting visitors who came on the occasion of the first General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. Today’s visitors all came on May 10, 1922.
May 10 was the day of a formal, organized visit to the Specola. I believe it may also have been the day when Pope Pius XI graced the Observatory with his presence, as seen in a photo posted a few weeks ago. In attendance were not only the astronomers of the IAU, but also their guests and spouses.
IAU members and guests visiting the Vatican on May 10, 1922. Photo taken at the Cortile di San Damaso. [Source: Popular Astronomy] n.b. all of the visitors are in tuxedos or formal black dress. This would suggest that the visit included a Papal audience.Today, we will highlight just a few of the visitors on that day. They are Carlo Somigliana, Luigi Volta, Francesco Vercelli, Alfred Lacroix, Louis Bauer, and Georges Perrier.
Capt. L. Beneš
[Note: For the attendees at the IAU meeting, I did not want to skip over any names in case they might have historical value. However, not every attendee is documented on the interwebs. If you happen to know who these people are, please submit a comment.]
There is a “Capitaine L. Beneš” who wrote, “Institut ge’ogr milit. à Prague, Tche’koslovaquie” (“Military geographical institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia”). I have been unable to find any information on this person.
Colonel Delcambre
There is a “Colonel Delcambre” who wrote, “Directeur de l’office national méteorologique de France.” (“Director of the national meteorological office of France”). Public records should exist of such a person, but I have not been able to find any.
[Update: Thanks to a helpful comment from reader and friend of the Specola Fernando Comeron, I have some more information about this person.]
Colonel Émile Delcambre (1871-1951) (later General) was the first director of the French National Meteorological Office. He served in that post from 1921 until his retirement in 1934.
He mapped weather patterns over the Atlantic ocean and advocated for active weather monitoring and prediction in order to assist air travel.
He also worked to incorporate meteorology into French agriculture, establishing some basic meteorological instruments that could be distributed to farmers.
Delcambre founded the French meteorological review “La Météorologie” in 1925.
Colonel Seligmann
One “Colonel Seligmann” wrote “Directeur de l’institut cartographique mil’re. Bruxelles Belgique” (“Director of the military cartographic institute, Brussels Belgium.”)
Colonel Seligmann attended as a representative of the Commission of Longitudes of the Geodesy Section of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. (The Union was having its triennial congress in Rome at the same time.)
I found a reference to a map of Belgium produced by a “General Seligmann” in 1931, but beyond that, I have been unable to find any information about this person.
Carlo Somigliana
Carlo Somigliana (1860-1955)Carlo Somigliana (1860) wrote, “dell’Università di Torino” (“from the University of Turin”).
He was chair of mathematical physics at Turin from 1903 until his retirement in 1935.
He was a mathematical physicist who researched in linar elasticity. His work contributed to understanding of seismic waves, gravimetry, and the flow of glaciers.
He developed an equation related to Green’s formula, which is known as the Somigliana integral equation. He also developed equations for interactions at elastic interfaces, known as Somigliana dislocations.
He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei (The predecessor of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences, it was appropriated by the Italian government in the 1870s and served as the host institution of the 1922 IAU general assembly). In 1939 he would become a member of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences.
Somigliana is not listed as a registered attendee of the IAU general assembly, but may have been present as a guest (probably of Luigi Volta–see below) or as a member of the organizing institution.
Luigi Volta
Luigi Volta (1876-1952) [Source: Accademia delle Scienze, Torino]Luigi Vòlta (1876-1952) wrote, “astronomo – Brera – Milano.”
Luigi Volta was the great-grandson of the physicist Alessandro Volta (1765-1927; inventor of the voltaic pile {battery} and the man for whom the unit of electric potential “volt” is named). [n.b. From the same source, I discovered that Carlo Somigliana (see above) was also a great-grandson of Volta, and was Luigi’s cousin.]
At the time of the IAU meeting, he was an astronomer at the observatory in Milan. In 1925, he would become the director of the Pino Torinese observatory of the University of Turin. In 1942, he would become director of the Observatories of Milan and Merate.
Much of his work involved precision measurements of latitude and longitude for various observatories (which was necessary for measuring stellar coordinates from those observatories).
He also observed and calculated orbits of comets and asteroids. He discovered five asteroids, including 1107 Lictoria and 1115 Sabaudia.
Volta served the IAU on the commission on longitude variations, and the one on latitude variations.
Francesco Vercelli
Francesco Vercelli (1883-1952) [Source: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale]Francesco Vercelli (1883-1952) wrote, “Dir. R. Isituto Geofisica, Trieste” “Director of the Royal Institute of Geophysics, Trieste.”
He was a physicist and mathematician who, during the First World War served as an artilleryman and meteorologist.
He was director of the Geophysical Institute of Trieste from 1919 until his retirement. He served a term as president of the Italian National Council for Research (CNR).
His major scientific contributions are in the field of thallasography (maritime geography/oceanography) as well as meteorology and other related fields.
Vercelli is not listed as a registered attendee of the IAU, but like Somigliana he was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. (Also like Somigliana, he would become a member of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences.)
Alfred Lacroix
Alfred Lacroix (1863-1948)Antoine François Alfred Lacroix FMRS (1863-1948) wrote, “Paris”.
He was director of the mineralogical laboratory of the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris.
His research involved the geology of volcanic materials: igneous rocks and metamorphism. He wrote a major work on the mineralogy of France and its colonies.
Lacroix was not a registered attendee of the IAU, but he was president of the volcanology section of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics from 1922-1927 (and thus would have been at the Geophysics Union’s congress in Rome at the time).
The Lacroix glacier in Antarctica is named for him, as is the species Oligodon lacroixi (an Asian snake).
G. B. Rizzo
Giovan Battista Rizzo (1863-1945) [Source: Università degli Studi di Messina]Giovan Battista Rizzo (1863-1945) wrote, “Università Messina”
He was director of the Institute of Terrestrial Physics and Meteorology of the University of Messina from 1908-1941.
His areas of research included meteorology, spectroscopy, magnetism, and volcanism.
Rizzo was not listed as a registered attendee of the IAU meeting, but may have been an attendee of the IUGG meeting.
Louis Bauer
Louis A. Bauer (1865-1932)Louis Agricola Bauer (1865-1932) wrote, “Dept. Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, D.C.”
He was director of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, D.C.
His research largely involved the global mapping of the Earth’s magnetic field, particularly over the oceans. His work strayed into astronomy through the study of geomagnetic effects of solar activity.
He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He founded the journal Terrestrial Magnetism (today the Journal of Geophysical Research.)
Bauer served on the IAU commission on solar radiation and the commission on solar physics.
Benjamin Baillaud
Édouard Benjamin Baillaud (1848-1934)Édouard Benjamin Baillaud (1848-1934) wrote, “Directeur d l’observatoire de Paris” (Director of the Paris Observatory)
I wrote a Specola Guestbook entry for Baillaud when he made an earlier visit on May 12, 1910. You can read that article for more about him.
Baillaud was the founding president of the International Astronomical Union. He also presided over the commission on the analysis of works and of bibliography, and served on the commission of astronomical telegrams, the Carte du Ciel commission, and the commission on time.
Georges Perrier
Georges Perrier (1872-1946)Lt.-Col. (later Gen.) Antoine François Jacques Justin Georges Perrier (1872-1946) wrote, “chef de le Section du geodesie du Service Geographique français Paris” (Head of the geodesy section of the French Geographical Service, Paris).
He served the French army in the geographical services.
He was president of the International Society for Photogrammetry from 1930-1934.
Perriertoppen (Perrier Peak), the second highest mountain in Svalbard, is named for him.
Col. Perrier attended as a representative of the Commission of Longitudes of the Geodesy Section of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. He was at the time secretary of the Geodesy Section, and would later become its president.
“Madame Perrier”
Louise Marguerite Thérèse Pagézy (1883-1961), the wife of Col. Perrier, appended her husband’s signature line with “et Madame Perrier”
